


Cheap Candy

by argylemikewheeler



Series: Tumblr Re-posts [43]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Gen, Period-Typical Homophobia, Protective Siblings, Richie Tozier and Mike Wheeler Are Twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2020-01-06 23:55:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18398945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/argylemikewheeler/pseuds/argylemikewheeler
Summary: Prompt: Nancy being a overprotective sister of Richie and Mike and them just being total sibling goals





	Cheap Candy

“Would you two  _shut up_  for just five goddamn minutes! I’m trying to drive!” Nancy cried, slamming her hands on the steering wheel. “I can’t focus when you two are screaming.”

“Maybe you’re just a bad driver.” Richie heckled, leaning up towards the driver’s seat. “Didn’t  _Steve_ always drive you to school?”

“I am a fine driver.” Nancy seethed. She turned on the radio to try and drown out her brother. “Sit down in your seat, Richie. I can’t do anything when you are kneeling–”

“I bet  _Steve_ says–”

“Shut up, Richie.” Mike groaned, grabbing his brother by the collar and yanking him into his seat. “You’re going to kill us.”

“We’d only be so lucky.” Richie said. “I hate this song.” Mike didn’t even know it, but it sounded like the main instrument was a flute or something.

“How far away are we, Nancy?” Mike asked, trying to redirect the conversation.

“We’ll get there when we get there!” Nancy cried, her voice shrill. “I don’t know where this fucking comic book store is and Mom gave me  _shit_ directions!”

Mike shrank back in his seat. “Sorry. I was just asking.”

“Well, until you can drive you aren’t allowed to ask anymore questions.” Nancy said.

Richie looked at Mike, who was still lowering his head from his sister’s rear-view mirror stare. “Fuck her.” He mouthed, hitting his brother in the arm. He rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue, showing exhaustion to her recent outbursts.

Richie had a thicker skin when it came to Nancy (and probably Nancy alone) but Mike was still unsure how to handle her when she was upset about things that weren’t him putting syrup on her eggs or stealing her quarters. They were bigger life things that Mike wasn’t in control of, but he was yelled at and felt responsible for. College sounded like a  _terrible_ thing.

“I’m pulling over. We need gas and I need Richie to annoy the cashier for at least five minutes.” Nancy said, turning the car into a barely-busy gas station.

“Buy me a Snickers bar and I can make it ten.” He said, grabbed the back of Nancy’s seat to put his head beside hers. She held up a dollar bill as she put the car in park beside a pump. “Solid! Let’s go Mike and Ike!”

“I wish you would stop calling me that.” Mike sighed, opening the car door and sliding off the seat. “We’ll be right back, Nancy.”

“Okay.” She said, pushing on her temples. Mike felt the urge to say something pathetically gushy to her, but he slammed the door and followed Richie instead.

“Hello my good, sir.” Richie said loudly, barely checking to see if the man standing at the register that Sunday morning was  _even_ a man.

“Nope.” The man said, taking one look at both Richie and Mike. “Get out.”

“What?”

“Excuse me.” Richie said, unfazed. “I have money to exchange for goods and or services.” He held up the dollar. “And I request a Snickers.”

“I don’t sell to people like you.”

“Like us?” Mike echoed. “Twins?” People were thrown off often, but they had never encountered a problem before.  _The Shining_  had done very little for their cause.

“I have the right to reserve service to anyone. And I don’t serve fairies.” the man said gruffly, folding his arms. “Don’t make me ask you again.”

“Fairies?” Richie echoed, touching his face. “My ears aren’t that long are they, Mikey?”

“Richie.” Mike hissed. “Don’t start with him. We don’t even know where we are; maybe people are just really… anti- Hawaiian patterns.”

“Hey, I bought these Jams with my own money. I like them!” Richie ran his hands over his brightly colored shorts. “Just because they have  _colors_ on them doesn’t mean I’m gay.” Richie argued. “It’s my boyfriend who does that–”

“Richie!” Mike grabbed his arm and tried to pull him back out the door. Richie was lying, but he was saying all the right things to push the owner’s buttons. He was fuming, hand fumbling under the desk and pulling a phone to his ear.

“Don’t make me call the cops.” The man said. He could have been doing a lot worse, but Mike wasn’t about to test his luck. “Get out of my store.”

“Come on, guys! What are you doing, making the candy yourself?” Nancy said, pushing the door in and forcing the bell to clang against the glass harshly. It was the only noise as the man’s fingers hovered over the phone’s dial. Richie was practically being gagged by his brother and Mike could feel the sweat forming by his temples. “What’s going on here?”

“Are you with them?” The man asked.

“Yes. I am.” Nancy said. “What the hell did you two do?” She yanked Mike’s hand away from Richie’s mouth.

“We look gay.” Mike said, his brother still sputtering through the past two minutes of commentary. “He won’t let us buy candy.”

Nancy blinked at Mike, the tension on her face dissolving. Her eyes softened and her hands reached for both of theirs. “What candy do you want?”

“I just wanted something with fucking caramel.” Richie said, fixing his waistband and huffing at the pattern he was growing to feel insecure about. Mike could see the doubt cross his brother’s face quickly, Richie rushing to shove his glasses farther up on his face and disguise his furrowed eyebrows.

“I wanted gum.” Mike admitted.

“I would like a pack of Wrigley’s.” Nancy took the dollar from Richie and placed it on the counter. Her hand smacked against the metal surface. “And something with fucking caramel in it.”

“I am refusing service.”

“Give me the fucking candy.” Nancy grumbled. “I just paid  _three dollars_  for two gallons of gas. The least you could do is give me and my brothers some goddamn candy.”

“Don’t start threatening him, Nancy Drew. It’s okay. We can go.” Richie said, trying to explain the deadlock grimaces off Nancy and the owner’s face.

“No. We aren’t leaving until you get your candy.” She leaned her elbow on the counter, resting her chin on her hand. “I have all day.”

“I don’t serve people like them.”

“Children?” Nancy laughed, shaking her head. “Boys? Twins? Nerds?”

“ _Hey_!”

“What about them makes them unservable?” Nancy motioned towards her brothers, Richie in his bright pants and coke bottle glasses and Mike in his old summer camp shirt and ruddy sneakers. “You can’t possibly be that ignorant.” She sighed. “Give us the damn candy so we can leave.” He opened his mouth again, although with less urgency and confidence. “Are you going to deny service to  _me_?” She leaned back on the counter with both elbows.

The dollar was replaced with both pieces of candy.

“Fuck.” Richie muttered.

“And a pack of Lucky Strikes,” Nancy added, pointing over his shoulder. “for good looks.” She winked. The pack was handed to her with the same hand that previously held the telephone. He lost.

“Check fucking mate.” Richie laughed, grabbing the Snickers off the counter and running out the door with Nancy and Mike behind.

They all climbed back in the car, Nancy laughing as Richie bestowed half his Snickers bar to her. She denied it and pushed it towards Richie, telling him to enjoy it. He did it without being told twice.

In his chewing, Mike was able to take advantage of the silence. “Why did you take cigarettes?” He said. “You don’t smoke.”

“Yeah, I know.” Nancy was a moment away from giggling, her face flushed red. “I just always wanted to do that.”

“Who knew you were a badass?” Richie said, teeth nearly stuck together by caramel.

“Demanding to be treated equal is not being badass.” Nancy said, finally turning the car over and beginning to pull away from the station. “I’m just looking out for you guys.” Mike saw her face tense up although her words were gentle and quiet.

Oh shit. It wasn’t college, was it? Mike reached forward and touched Nancy’s shoulder, trying to catch her eyes in the rear view mirror at the red light.

“We’re going to miss you, Nance.”

“I’m going to miss you guys too.” She sighed. She reached across herself to hold Mike’s hand. “I don’t want to leave, but–”

“We understand.” Richie said, surprisingly aware of the gravity of the conversation. “We want you to be happy though.”

“Thanks, Richie.” Nancy’s lips pressed together as her smile restrained from crumpling from her quivering bottom lip.

“Yeah, you’ve got to go to college and be fucking smarter than Ted.”

“That’s not hard, Richie.” Mike countered. “Dad’s kind of an idiot.”

“Well, we need you to be super smart so you can make a lot of money and we can live with you instead of Mom and Dad.” Richie said, patting Nancy’s shoulder with a wink.

“Promise?” She laughed, her eyes watering. “Move in with me?”

“Promise.”

“You’ll always be my little brothers?”

“I mean, physically we have no choice. Sure.”

“And I’m your favorite sister?”

“Holly doesn’t get us cheap candy, so, yeah.” Richie said, wrapping his arms around Nancy’s shoulders. “You’re the best there is.”

**Author's Note:**

> [The Rebloggable Post!](https://argylemikewheeler.tumblr.com/post/172113201480/sup-my-bro-my-buddy-my-amigo-idea-nancy-being-a)


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